Where's the Key?
by Shroomie
Summary: The monks dropped Dawn off at the wrong house. A.U. rewrite of season 5.


Author: Shroomie  
  
Title: Where's the Key?  
  
Summary: The monks dropped Dawn off at the wrong house. A.U. rewrite of season 5.  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Damn my luck. *** -author's note-I'm writing this as if Dawn was Giles' daughter instead of Buffy's little sister. She still comes as a glowy key thing, complete with fake memories, though. The rest of the events are influenced by the show, but I've changed parts to fit with the ideas coming out of my crazy little head. Enjoy!-  
  
Dad  
  
Giles wiped the sweat from his forehead as he prepared himself for the sequence of blows he knew was coming. Adjusting his feet, he looked at the young girl across from him and nodded once. She pushed a few strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ears and took a deep breath as she moved towards him. The next few minutes were filled with punches and kicks directed at the pads on Giles' hands.  
  
After a particularly hard kick to the right hand, Giles lifted his left one and called for a time out.  
  
"That's it?" Buffy asked, smiling at her Watcher, "I thought you British guys were tougher than that."  
  
Giles straightened up. "Yes, of course we are, and no, we're not finished as of yet, I just, um, thought you could use a break."  
  
"You want me to step in, Dad?" a voice added.  
  
Both Buffy and Giles looked over to the door to the training room where a young teenager stood. She was very thin, with long brown hair and was dressed in the latest fashion. Swinging her book bag off her shoulder, she set it on the floor by the wall as she walked over to the training pair.  
  
Giles smiled as he gave her a quick hug. "No, that's alright Dawn, I'm fine. Buffy and I will just be a little longer, if you want to grab a table in the front and start on your homework."  
  
Dawn cringed at the mention of homework but went to pick up her bag again anyway, frowning as she prepared to leave.  
  
Buffy smiled at the younger girl, remembering well her days of middle school work. "Hey Dawnie," she started. Dawn looked at her with complete interest. Since Buffy had never had a sister and Dawn was Giles' only child they had bonded quickly when he became the Slayer's Watcher. Dawn idolized the older girl and Buffy responded with equal adoration and dotage. Giles had discouraged their relationship at first, as he worried for the safety of his daughter; however, as Dawn had been quick to point out, she could be no safer than when she was with a Slayer.  
  
Buffy continued, "Movie night tonight? I'll have to make a patrol, of course, but it can be a quickie. I can come over to your place and we can have a total Brad Pitt marathon."  
  
Dawn beamed at the suggestion and nodded quickly. She was still smiling as she grabbed her bag and practically skipped back into the other room.  
  
"Thank you for that, Buffy," Giles said quietly while adjusting the pads on his hands back into place, "She's been a little out of sorts lately, although I'm not entirely sure why. It seems that once girls reach the teenage years they no longer wish to speak to their fathers anymore."  
  
Buffy laughed. "Yeah, they do that, but hey no sweat on the movie night. I've been meaning to spend some more time with Dawn anyways. I mean, she's like my little sister, practically. She borrows my clothes, teases me constantly, and talks to me about boys, and sex, and," Buffy cut off when Giles' face contorted at the mention of boys and sex.  
  
"Uh, yes, I see. On with the training then?" Giles asked, clearing his throat as Buffy smiled and started another kicking sequence.  
  
*** Dawn emerged from the training room much happier than when she'd first gone in. Dropping her bag to the floor again, she thought for a moment about actually starting her homework. *yeah right* she decided, heading over to the counter to bug Anya.  
  
"One-hundred twelve, one-hundred thirteen, one-hundred fourteen," Anya smiled as she counted some of the money from her drawer. *today must have been a good sale day* Dawn thought, due to Anya's happy look.  
  
"Hey Anya, how's your money?" Dawn asked, the now good mood radiating off of her.  
  
Anya beamed back as she responded. "Very well, thank you for asking. I've made a lot of money today," she looked up at Dawn and then went back to counting, "one-hundred fifteen, one-hundred sixteen."  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes at the former vengeance demon and went behind the counter to examine a box of new merchandise. Every since her dad had bought the shop Dawn's interest in magical items had increased. At first that had made him a little uneasy, but when Willow offered to teach her just a few simple spells to ease her curiosity, Giles had finally relented. So far, Dawn had only learned to levitate a pencil, which was a lot harder than it seemed.  
  
Thinking on this, she reached into the box to see what was inside. Pulling out a large book, she heaved it onto the counter next to the register, careful not to disturb Anya's counting.  
  
Dawn fingered the writings on the cover, some of which were in English, some of which were in a demon language she couldn't read. She glanced around the store once more to make sure no one was watching her. Giles and Buffy were still in the training room and Anya was preoccupied with her cash, so Dawn took a deep breath and opened the book, closing her eyes in case anything happened.  
  
After a moment, she opened her eyes again. Nothing had happened. She shrugged and looked at the open page with renewed interest. Flipping through the pages, she stopped on one that was written in English. Looking closer, she realized it wasn't English but Latin.  
  
*I wonder what this does* she thought.  
  
"Librum incindere," Dawn spoke the words out loud, causing the book to erupt into flames. Stepping back from the fire, she closed the book hurriedly, wondering if anyone noticed.  
  
"Dawn, don't speak Latin front of the books."  
  
Dawn looked up guiltily to the doorway where her father and Buffy now stood, him regarding her seriously while the Slayer held back a smile.  
  
"Sorry, Dad, I was just, um," Dawn began, but was interrupted.  
  
"She was just going through the new merchandise, which is not for her, but for my customers, and she decided to read a spell she doesn't know how to do, and the book caught on fire," Anya said without looking up.  
  
Giles smiled wryly. "Yes, I see, thank you Anya. And Dawn, please refrain from examining any new materials until either Willow or myself has approved them for your use." Dawn nodded, her guilty expression falling into one of depression as she moved back to her table and took out a schoolbook.  
  
Noting this, Giles turned to Buffy and asked, "Are you heading back to the dorm now?"  
  
"Yeah, I figured I'd get a little homework done, then do a sweep of the regular graveyards before heading over, if that's okay?" she replied.  
  
Giles nodded. "Good then, I'll have some time to work on training with Dawn a little before we close up shop for the day."  
  
Dawn's head shot up at his words. She had been asking him for ages to teach her to fight the way he taught Buffy, but her dad had always insisted she was too young. However, it looked like he'd changed his mind.  
  
"Really? Training, like real training?" Dawn asked, her voice incredulous.  
  
"Yes," Giles laughed, "Real training. It's time you started."  
  
Buffy smiled at the bonding of the father and daughter and headed to the door, only to run into Willow and Tara.  
  
"Buffy, hey" Willow said, shifting the books in her arms.  
  
"Hey Willow, Tara. Seems like good moods abound today," Buffy commented, noticing the smiles on the pair of witches.  
  
Willow glanced Tara and her grin widened. She had just recently told her friends that Tara was now her girlfriend. Their immediate acceptance had showed her how much they really cared about her and her happiness. Since then, Willow had never been happier.  
  
"They do, don't they?" Willow asked, her voice kind of dreamy. Buffy looked at Dawn and the two of them rolled their eyes. Every since telling the group about Tara, Willow had been going around in a 'happy haze' as Xander called it.  
  
"Yeah, sure Willow," Buffy said, trying again to leave the store. She stopped momentarily to call back over her shoulder, "Hey, are you staying at the room tonight?" Willow considered this, looking at Tara as she thought. As if reading her mind, Buffy added, "Since I'm staying over with Dawn and Giles, I thought you might enjoy a little Tara time."  
  
Willow nodded as she caught on. "Oh, Tara time, very nice, thanks."  
  
Buffy shared one more look with Dawn before trying to leave again, only to run into Xander, who preceded to drop the drinks he was carrying. Luckily, Buffy caught them before they hit the ground.  
  
"Hey, Buffster, all cool with the Slayer speed," Xander said, moving around her to come into the shop, "hey all."  
  
"Hi Xander, Willow, Tara! Guess what? Dad's gonna let me start training today! Like real training, stakes and swords and all!" Dawn squealed with excitement.  
  
"I said nothing about swords," Giles hurried to add while Buffy finally made it out the door, smiling to herself. Her friends were great, her school was great, even slaying was great. Things were starting to look up for the Slayer. *** The minion huddled down, crouching at the feet of the woman in front of him, other like him crowding behind. The woman looked down at her hands, turning them over and over while laughing. After a few moments, she looked around the room at her lackeys. Crossing her arms, she walked forward as she said, "It's about time."  
  
The first minion bowed his head as he spoke, "Great and mighty Glorificus, oh how we praise you! Beautiful, powerful, wonderful,"  
  
"Enough already!" Glory said as she waved him away. She thoughtfully chose a chair to sit in before crossing her legs and glaring out at the minions. "Now, where's my key?"  
  
-author's note: worth continuing? I'm working on a few other things right now, so let me know if you want more or not, please! 


End file.
